The hardwood floors came out beautiful. This is because I laid about 80% of them my self. I utilized a floating method with a very expensive waterproof under-layment pad. It ensures a silent floor (no crackle when you step on it) I glued each groove of each board by hand and then laid the floor. We had a tiny bit of swelling at the tongue and groove from the small amount of glue applied. This will dissipate after some time goes by. All in all, the floor came out beautiful and compliments the house perfectly. More photos to come!

EKTORP: Chase Lounge ::: Purchased from IKEA

Sitting Area

EKTORP: Three Seater Couch ::: Purchased from IKEA

Sitting area... Chelsea absolutely LOVED this chair. I had to get it for her!

EKTORP: Three Seater Couch ::: Purchased from IKEA

Great Room

Great Room

Great Room

Great Room

My Main Man... Noah

Dining Nook (and, the computer I use to make the posts)

The damaged wood floors were removed from the great room and the mirrors, towel bars, and toilet paper holders were installed in the bathrooms. Soffits were built for the laundry room and the kitchen to hide exposed pipe.

Tile floor shown in kitchen

Tile floor shown in kitchen

Wood floor removed from great room

Mirrors hung in bathrooms

Mirrors hung in bathrooms

Towel bar and toilet paper holders installed

Outdoor A/C unit installed

New American Standard faucet installed

Soffit to cover exposed pipe in laundry room

Soffit to hide exhaust vent in kitchen

Steps to complete the home:

1. Trim the tree that is blocking the connection of the house to the power pole outside this weekend.
2. Have air conditioning compressor set outside and have connected by electrician on Monday morning.
3. Schedule all three trade inspections for Tuesday morning. Plumbing, Mechanical (HVAC) and Electrical Finals.
4. Once the final electrical inspection is passed I will contact the chief building inspector and ask that he send a release to our electrical company. He will also have the county issue a temporary Certificate of Occupancy (C/O) provided all of the misc. fees are paid to date.
5. Call electrical company and have them come to the house and connect the electricity to the house.
6. Have the first start performed on the A/C by the HVAC company and begin running the A/C.
7. Call health department and schedule a water test on the well and get that approved.
8. Bring all wood product into the home and begin the acclimation period.
9. In the mean time, schedule a FINAL BUILDING inspection on the home. (This is the last inspection needed where there will be a county official inside of the home. This means we can move our stuff in a little early and if the electricity is on, guess what, we will be living there permanently!!!
10. After final building inspection is passes we can do our site grading and get the drainage work done with the tractor in 1 day. Cover up all holes in the ground, remove leftover construction debris, etc…
11. Schedule final Land Alteration inspection (Site Inspection)
12. We can begin the wood floors after 7 days of proper HVAC moisture removal and wood floor acclimation. The floor will take 3 days to install. After wood floors are installed we can have our carpet installed in the bedrooms.
13. If all of this “STUFF” goes well, we can apply for an official Certificate of Occupancy and be done with this crazy crazy process!

I arrived on site yesterday morning to find that our beautiful floors had a cupped shape on each board. This was highly noticeable when you look at the glare of the sun on the floors. The glare isn’t smooth or glassy, instead it looks jagged and similar to an ocean ripple. In the previous post I was talking about how the installers were complaining the glue they were using was setting up too fast and very difficult to work with. Because of this, they returned all of the Urethane based glue and exchanged it for (a much cheaper) acrylic urethane latex adhesive, A.K.A. :: WATER BASED GLUE THAT DESTROYS A WOOD FLOOR UPON APPLICATION!

The floor guys told me that they used this “new” glue a million times on floors in the past and they all turned out beautiful. The geniuses failed to mention that they used the glue on engineered and laminate floors and not solid wood floors. The result of their actions is approximately $1,000 of beautiful wood floor ruined due to excessive moisture absorption!

Trusting the floor installers, I never researched the new glue and I never looked twice at the glue cans they brought on site and were using. … BIG MISTAKE! If I had looked a little closer at the glue cans, they are marked clearly on the face of the label “FOR USE ON ENGINEERED FLOORS ONLY” “DO NOT USE ON SOLID WOOD OR BAMBOO FLOORS” This raises so many questions: Did they do this to save big bucks on the glue cost and pocket the difference hoping that we wouldn’t notice? Did they forget to read the label on the front of the cans? Did they wake up that morning and forget their brains at home?

We are now faced with a more delays in completion and our floor is on back order and will take 2 full weeks to have delivered. Tomorrow is a big on site meeting to determine the best action to take on the removal of our newly purchased firewood!

A LITTLE EDUCATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A WOOD FLOOR INSTALLED: Please Read

Our floor installers laid the first 7 rows of wood floor down with the correct urethane adhesive. This floor still remains perfect and not cupped or damaged. The newly laid floor that the installers laid down with the incorrect acrylic urethane latex glue cupped approximately 8 hours after install.

The reason for instant cupping: Solid wood floor and bamboo flooring is not man made and is a natural wood product. This makes it extremely vulnerable to water damage. The garbage water based glue (Roberts 1407) has way too much moisture content to be used with solid wood and the water used to make the glue is instantly transferred to the new floor and the result is expansion of the edges. This results in wood floor cupping.

The moisture cure urethane adhesive (Roberts 1408) originally used has no water in the adhesive. In fact, it acts as a protection to the solid wood floor by detecting moisture (in the concrete slab) and instantly curing to lock the moisture out. This acts as a moisture barrier.

Summary:

When laying a SOLID WOOD FLOOR: Use a moisture cure urethane adhesive. Roberts 1408

When laying an ENGINEERED WOOD FLOOR: Use a moisture cure urethane adhesive. Roberts 1408

What to do with acrylic urethane latex adhesive (Roberts 1407): Shove it up the salesman’s ass at your local home improvement store if he recommends it to you for your floor. I care about the environment so I wouldn’t even recommend it as a boat anchor!

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

1407 Roberts Acrylic Urethane Latex WATER BASED adhesive

1408 Roberts Solid Wood Floor Adhesive URETHANE

Wood floor cupping and crowning

The blue masking tape you see on the floor is to hold the joints tight and straight while the first 7 rows cure. This is the most critical part when installing a wood floor. We lay 7 rows of wood floor in a randomized pattern. We make sure that the final row of the floor is perfectly straight. This straight-edge acts as a guide to install the rest of the floor. Once 24 hours passes we are ensured that the floor is fully cured to the slab and we can proceed with the rest of the wood floor installation.

Wood floor install: Glue down application

Wood floor install: Glue down application

Wood floor install: Glue down application: GLUE SHOWN

Wood floor install: Glue down application: GLUE SHOWN

Wood floor install: Glue down application: GLUE SHOWN